For more than five decades, coconut oil is erroneously believed to be unhealthy and was singled out as high in saturated fats that increase the blood cholesterol level.

It really began in part in the late 1950s, when a researcher in Minnesota, USA announced that the heart disease epidemic was being caused by hydrogenated vegetable fats. The edible oil industry’s response at that time was to claim it was only the saturated fat in the hydrogenated oils that was causing the problem.

During the same period, a researcher in Philadelphia reported that consuming poly-saturated fatty acids lowered serum cholesterol. The researcher, however neglected to include the information that the lowering was due to the cholesterol going into the tissues, such as the liver and the arteries.

As a result of these research reports, there was a gradual increase in the emphasis on replacing “saturated fats” in the diet and on the consuming of larger amounts of the “poly-saturated fats”. This strong emphasis on consuming polysaturates has backfired in many ways when some vested groups in the US replace the saturates with mono-unsaturates instead of with poly-unsaturates and replace poly-unsaturates with mono-unsaturates.-

The criticism of saturated fats contained in coconut oil in the US started with the instigation of some vested interest groups in the edible oil industry like the American Soybean Association, when they sponsored the major anti-saturated fat, anti-tropical campaign in the late 1980s. This was eventually supported by some consumer groups, and from those in the medical and scientific community who learned their misinformation from the other members of the edible oil industry.

***
Looking closely however, we find that cultures in which coconut oil is a regular part of the native diet have some of the lowest incidents of heart disease.

Dr. Bruce Fife, a renown American nutritionist and physician who made extensive research confirmed that virgin coconut oil contained about 50% lauric fatty acid. In his best-selling book “The Healing Miracles of Coconut Oil” he claimed that this medium-chain fatty can be broken down easily and used mainly for energy production rather than being stored as fat.

Similarly, Dr. Mary Enig, a noted nutritionist and biochemist, formerly with the University of Maryland, claimed that this fatty acid is similar to a mother’s milk. It is said to form monolaurin in the human body, and has anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-protozoal characteristics that can aid the human immune system against lipid-coated viruses such as influenza, herpes, hepatitis C, HIV, and even some form of cancers.

***
Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) is obtained from the fresh and mature kernel of coconut by mechanical or natural means without the application of heat. It is the purest form of coconut oil, water white in color and suitable for human consumption. It contains natural Vitamin E and has not undergone hydrolytic or atmospheric oxidation as attested by its very low free fatty acid content and peroxide value. It has a mild to intense fresh coconut scent depending on the type of production process used.

The Virgin Coconut Oil is different from the copra-derived cooking oil since the latter has to undergo chemical refining, bleaching and deodorization processes to make it suitable for human consumption, thus it is commonly referred to as RBD oil. This type of oil is odorless, tasteless, yellow or pale yellow in color and does not contain Vitamin E since this is removed when the oil is subjected to high temperature and chemical processes.

The yellow color in coconut oil are caused by bacterial contamination of the coconut meat before extraction, and high process temperature. Therefore, for the coconut oil to be categorized as virgin, its color should be water white or clear white.

The Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) is currently used as a hair conditioner, as a body oil or a substitute for moisturizing lotion, or as carrier oil for aromatheraphy and massage oils. In fact we were informed that massage clients in Boracy and other famous beach resorts preferred the VCO over other types of oil.

Aside from the instant energy to the human body, VCO is also considered a nutriceutical substance since it has some medicinal properties. It was found out that the medium chain (C8-C12) fats in VCO is similar to the fats in mother’s milk that gives babies immunity from diseases.

Recently, I received a text message from Sony Mirasol, the former night editor of Philippine Daily Inquirer based in Manila: “ I read your column on VCO and I can attest to its efficacy for wounds and rashes. It cured my grandson’s infected wound and my rashes which very expensive medicines could not.”

We will tell you more about the other health benefits of the Virgin Coconut Oil next time.

***
Japanese Etiquette: In Japan, everyone waits their turn before speaking, and the order of speaking is determined largely by social status. When it is a Japanese person’s turn to speak, the speaker usually talks for a long time, saying all he or she wants to say, before falling silent until the next turn comes around. Maybe that’s why polite conversation at the dinner table has never been a traditional part of Japanese etiquette. Your turn to talk would last so long without interruption that you’d never get a chance to eat.

JOKE TIME:
Having just moved into his new office, a pompous manager was sitting at his desk when his attractive secretary knocked on the door. Wanting to impress her, the manager told the secretary to enter and quickly picked up the phone and said, “Yes, Mr. Chairman, I’ll be seeing the Vice President for Finance this afternoon and inform him to purchase a new BMW as my service car. Thank you for your good wishes, sir.”

Feeling as though he had sufficiently impressed the young and pretty secretary, he asked, “ What do you want?”

“Nothing important sir,” she replied. “Just came here to hook up your telephone.”

QUOTES:
The computer makes writing, as it makes so many of the tasks of life, easier, but it needs the guidance of a human mind to make writing more interesting and intelligent.

“A healthy body is a guest-chamber for the soul but a sick body is a prison.” - Francis Bacon

“No man can violate Nature’s laws and escape her penalties.” - Julian Johnson